BOSTON, Mass. – Sophomore Kyle Henseler (Coventry, R.I.) paced four players in double figures with 18 points as the Wentworth Institute of Technology men's basketball team fended off a late Salve Regina charge with a 66-59 in in Commonwealth Coast Conference action Saturday afternoon.
Winners of two straight the Leopards improve to 6-11 overall and 4-5 in CCC play, while the Seahawks fall to 7-11 (3-6).
Wentworth came out of the gates scoring the first five points, thanks to a three pointer from Henseler on the first possession of the game and followed up by a junior Stephen Azums (Hyde Park, Mass.) layup. The Leopards increased their lead to 8-2 on a three from senior Zach Bergeon (Litchfield, N.H.) before Salve Regina used a7-0 run to take a 9-8 lead after a layup from freshman Mikey Spencer (Abington, Mass.). Spencer had the last five points of the run. A sophomore Gavin Keough (Dunstable, Mass.) three gave the hosts the lead back before sophomore Kevin Kelly (Valhalla, N.Y.) evened the score with a jumper.
After freshman Joseph Hecker (Bloomfield Hills, Mich.) and freshman Andrew Richards (Rosedale, N.Y.) traded baskets, Azums and sophomore Tyler Lennon (Atkinson, N.H.) combined for the next five points, giving the hosts an 18-13 lead with 7:27 remaining in the half. Wentworth pushed its lead to nine (25-16) on a layup form Azums with two minutes left in the half and had a five-point lead (27-22) at the half.
The Seahawks began the second half on a 9-2 run and took a 31-29 lead on a sophomore Jonathan Friberg (North Attleboro, Mass.) layup. Bergeon and Keough sandwiched three pointers around a second made layup by Friberg and led by two with 16:14 to play. The teams traded baskets before the Leopards eventually extended their lead to as many as nine on two occasions, including when Henseler hit two free throws with 6:09 remaining. After Salve Regina whittled the lead to five on a Friberg free throw with 3:28 left, The Black & Gold reclaimed a nine-point lead after Henseler drained a three with 2:43 left. The Seahawks scored five of the next six points with a three from Spencer making it a 60-55 game with 1:47 remaining.
A Henseler layup gave Wentworth a 62-55 lead with 1:10 left in the contest, however, Salve Regina used a layup from Friberg and a second-chance layup from junior Andrew Bornstein (Needham, Mass.) to pull within three 22 ticks left. Henseler hit two free throws to push the lead to five and, after a turnover, he hit two more from the charity stripe to ice the game.
Ten of Henseler's team-high 18 points came from the free throw line as he was 10-for-12. Azums added 11 and five rebounds, while Bergeon and Keough each had 10 points to pace the Leopards.
Spencer led all scorers with 19 points while Friberg had 17 points and nine rebounds and freshman Mike Palmieri (Bristol, Conn.) added 11 points for the Seahawks.
Wentworth is at Western New England on Tuesday night. That same night, Salve Regina is at Roger Williams.
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